Congress chief Sonia Gandhi exhibited an uncharacteristically combative demeanour on Wednesday, as protests against the promotion quota Bill took an ugly turn in the Lok Sabha in the wake of continued protests by the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party.

The drama unfolded at 3pm, when the House convened after two adjournments to witness SP leaders converging on the Well of the House shouting slogans against the controversial Constitutional (117th Amendment) Bill.

As Union minister of state for personnel V. Narayanasamy got up to move the Bill, SP leader Yashvir Singh sneaked up from behind and snatched the papers right out of his hands.

Singh was making his way towards the Well, when Sonia, seated in the front row, leapt from her seat and rushed after him.

The Congress chief grabbed Singh by his shoulder and tried to wrench the Bill out of his hands.

Not ready to cede his "conquest", Singh tossed the Bill to fellow party member Neeraj Shekhar - among the protesters gathered in the Well - who at once tore the Bill and dumped it on the ground.

A minor scuffle followed as some SP leaders surged towards Sonia, and Congress members, including Subodh Kant Sahay, Kantilal Bhuria and Bapi Raju, leapt to her defence.

The Congress' Vilas Muttembar was at one point seen with his hand on Singh's chin.

In the melee, Sonia was about to fall backwards, but the front desk held her back.

This entire incident lasted around a minute, after which Speaker Meira Kumar adjourned the House for the day.

Chaotic scene in the Lok Sabha in New Delhi following an SP protest in the well over the quota Bill

Sonia was later heard reprimanding Narayanasamy: "Why did you not resist? Do you have another copy of the Bill?"

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The episode, though, led to a newfound bonhomie between the BJP and the SP, with the former criticising Sonia for getting aggressive with Singh, a Dalit. Mulayam later said the Congress had "insulted our MP".

"Our MP was beaten up and now the channel (Lok Sabha TV) has deleted the clipping. What was done to our MP is insulting," he said.

He denied the Congress' allegations that the party had deliberately made a Dalit MP snatch the Bill and that the whole incident was pre-planned.

Parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath condemned the incident as "very deplorable and extremely unfortunate" and said the Bill would be taken up again on Thursday, the last day of the winter session.

He added: "We will urge the Speaker to condemn the incident and take action against the member (Singh)."